I had tried everything to make myself feel better in the aftermath of that nightmare – “happy pills,” self-injury, meditation, support groups, even crystal therapy – but the one thing I had not tried yet was writing about it. The abuse had made me afraid to do the one thing I’ve always been confident doing, because the entire relationship relied on my abuser speaking over me and drowning out my voice. That’s when I knew that the only way to heal would be to reclaim my words.